


I Could Write A Book

by lizzyunicorn



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Captain America - The Winter Soldier, Captain America: The First Avenger - Fandom
Genre: 1940s, And he's nearly completely his old self again, Boys Kissing, Bucky proposes to Steve, Bucky remembers everything, But he loves Steve and Bucky, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kissing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Nat Ships them, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Captain America: The First Avenger, Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sam's an idiot, Songfic, Stucky - Freeform, and loves Steve so much, bucky loves steve, lots of love, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 13:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6118372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizzyunicorn/pseuds/lizzyunicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>››If they ask me, I could write a book<br/>About the way you walk and whisper and look...‹‹</p>
<p>For a second Bucky just starred at Steve, starred at the love of his life, before he reached into the pocket of his trousers.<br/>For a long time now Bucky had thought about when the right moment was, but then he had come to the conclusion that there would never be the right moment. Just like with their first kiss, there wasn’t a right moment. It was just a moment you turned into the right and perfect moment. You made the moment right not the moment itself. </p>
<p>Taking a deep breath, Bucky strode over to Steve. If there wasn’t a right moment, so why not now? He waited 70 long years for this so he might just do it.  </p>
<p>Or </p>
<p>Bucky loved Steve since he first met him, although he only figured out his feelings when he was 15. More than 70 years later he still loves his favorite troublemaker and super-soldier and is ready to spend the next 70 years with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Could Write A Book

**Author's Note:**

> The song is "I Could Write A Book", the Frank Sinatra version (I don't know whether they are other versions, but that's the one I used).  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGuaoiI1bSc  
> Have I ever said I love Oldies? No? Well, now you know.  
> And I love Bucky and Steve. And 1940s Stucky. And proposal stories, so why don't mix it all together?  
> Have fun!

_››If they ask me, I could write a book_  
_About the way you walk and whisper and look‹‹_

 

His laugh was addictive. It was warm, welcoming and so _damn_ gorgeous. And the way his eyes sparkled when he laughed. God, that was heaven.  
Bucky watched Steve laughing about a joke Sam had made and he could just not stop starring. Steve’s laugh was absolutely stunning. Bucky felt his lips twitch a bit, forming a slight smile. Damn, Steve’s laugh was just contagious. He could watch him laugh for the rest of his life.  
But that wasn’t everything. Bucky knew Steve so well. He knew when something was bothering Steve. He knew when Steve wanted to be left alone and when he needed someone. Bucky knew how Steve was feeling by just looking at him for a second. Already back in the 40s had Bucky known what Steve needed without Steve saying a single word. Bucky simply knew. It was like he could read Steve’s mind. Not that he was in fact able of doing so, he just knew Steve so damn well.

  
Hearing footsteps coming towards him Bucky knew in an instant who it was. He didn’t need to look up to know that he was right. He just knew it. Bucky had heard Steve’s footsteps so often – had heard them his whole life long, before the serum and after – and Bucky would always be able to distinguish them from other people’s footsteps. Before the serum they had been light and careful and yet there had been determination in them. If Bucky had to explain it to someone else, he wouldn’t be able to. He knew how Steve’s footsteps sounded like before he became Captain America, but he would never be able to describe them completely. There would always be something missing.  
Now, Steve’s footsteps were still filled with determination, but they were heavier and not filled with this hurry Steve’s footsteps had before he had become Captain America, in order to catch up with Bucky.

  
Steve stopped in front of Bucky and Bucky looked up at him and was taken aback again by that intriguing smile of Steve. This angelic smile, like Steve was a heavenly creature sent to earth. Bucky couldn’t get enough of this smile. Of this sweet, sweet smile he loved seeing so much. This smile that made every women weak – including Bucky. This smile that had turned Steve into the epitome of a gentleman and the perfect man. If Bucky could only look at one smile for the remainder of his life, it would be Steve’s smile.

  
“Buck.”

  
God. Steve’s voice was paradise. Sweet, charming and breathtaking. Before the serum Steve’s voice had been higher than it was now, but Bucky had loved and still loved both versions. He had loved the little high pitch of Steve’s voice, how he sounded even higher when he was afraid and he loved the manly version of Steve’s voice. The voice in which he talked to Bucky now. Bucky could listen to this voice forever; it wouldn’t even matter what Steve said – he could order a pizza or whatever – as long as he just kept talking.

  
“Yeah?”  
“Sam and I wanted to go and get some coffee and the store nearby. Do you want to come with us?”  
Bucky nodded and Steve smiled brighter. God, how much Bucky loved that smile. If someone would ask him to write a book about Steve, Bucky would be more than able to do so. He would probably write a whole novel about this damn boy.

 

_››I could write a preface on how we met_  
_So the world would never forget‹‹_

 

Bucky still remembered so perfectly well how Steve and he had met. Then again it had been a rather weird first meeting, but then again it wasn’t. It suited them, especially Steve.  
Bucky smiled at the thought of how they had met. He could remember it so clearly, it felt like yesterday…

  
_... “Don’t go too far, Bucky.”_  
_The voice of Bucky’s mother was warm, but there was a certain strictness in it. Bucky simply nodded, not really thinking about it. It wasn’t like his mother didn’t know that he loved to stroll away. Surely, she wasn’t happy about it, but as long as he always came home, she didn’t really mind. Bucky was able to watch over himself after all._

  
_Bucky had just left the apartment complex and walked a few meters away from it, when he heard grunting and laughing. Normally Bucky wouldn’t have minded much but there was this weird ring to the laughter, which was wrong; extremely wrong. There was something sadistic and mocking about it, as if the person was laughing about someone else. It didn’t take Bucky long to locate the laughter and grunting and when he looked into the alley, he spotted a boy about his age, maybe a year older, with short black hair, jeans and a grey t-shirt. An aura of mockery was radiating off of him and Bucky knew right away that he was the one laughing and that he did not like him at all._  
_Bucky searched for the other person and it took him some time to finally spot blond hair and baby blue eyes. He was cute. And he was on the ground and bleeding._

  
_Without a second thought Bucky strode over and said shortly before he was reaching the black haired boy: “Hey. Pick on someone your own size”, because even from far away Bucky had noted that the blonde boy was way smaller than he was. And that was impressive, after all Bucky was only five years old. Yes, he was a bit taller than average but so was the black haired boy so why would he start a fight with him?  
_

  
_The boy standing turned around, fist clenched, ready to punch Bucky, but before he could even attempt to do so, Bucky had already landed a punch in his face and ducked the boy’s hit. He landed another hit at the boy’s stomach and the boy curled over, looking at him angrily, before he glanced at the other boy, grunting something sounding like “Fuckin’ pussy”, before running away with a pained expression._

  
_Bucky watched him leave, before he turned to the blonde boy still on the ground. He seemed a bit pissed off but Bucky could see that he was thankful._  
_“You’re alright?” Bucky asked and offered the boy a hand to help him get up._  
_Ignoring the offered hand, the boy stood up and nodded._  
_“Yeah. Though I would have been fine without your help. I had him on the ropes”, the boy said and Bucky rolled his eyes while laughing._  
_“Yeah. Sure”, he said while still laughing, before he looked at the boy._  
_“I’m Bucky, by the way. It’s probably good to know the name of your savior”, he said and the other boy rolled his eyes, before replying: “I’m Steve. Steven Grant Rogers.”_  
_He looked at Bucky._  
_“So Bucky’s your real name?” he asked and Bucky laughed while shaking his head._  
_“Nah. James Buchanan Barnes, but everyone’s just calling me Bucky.”_

  
_Steve nodded and they both walked back to the street, leaving the alley. For some time they remained silent until Bucky interrupted the silence._  
_“Say, what did you do to piss off that guy?” he asked Steve and Steve snorted._  
_“More like what did he do to piss me off”, he muttered and Bucky raised an eyebrow._  
_“Wait. You started the fight?” he asked and Steve nodded._

  
_Impressed, Bucky checked Steve out. He was small. Like really small. Smaller than the average five year old. If he was five. Okay, maybe four, but never ever was he younger. So why would he start a fight? Especially with someone taller and stronger than him?_

  
_“Okay, so what did he do to piss you off?”_  
_“He told me I was a pussy for always sitting around and drawing”, Steve muttered and Bucky chuckled._  
_“Seriously?” he asked and Steve nodded._  
_Bucky shook his head. This boy was one handful._  
_“So you decided to start a fight with him?” he asked and Steve nodded._  
_“He stole my sketch and ripped it in half before tossing it away. The sketch I was working on for a week”, Steve explained and Bucky nodded._  
_“Well, good that I was deciding to go and stroll around a bit”, Bucky said and he smiled at Steve. Steve looked at him for a second, before he shrugged._  
_“Whatever.”_

  
_Steve looked down the street and then at Bucky._  
_“I guess I should go home and patch myself up, making sure Mom doesn’t get a heart attack”, he said and Bucky looked at Steve._  
_“So… Maybe see you around”, Steve said and he was about to walk down the street, but Bucky stopped him by grabbing his arm._  
_Steve looked at him in surprise. Bucky smiled at him._  
_“C’mon, punk, I’ll get you patched up. My home’s just over there and Mom won’t tell your Mom”, he said and Steve eyed him suspiciously._  
_“Is that a threat?” Steve asked and Bucky started laughing._  
_“Nah, buddy. Just an invitation from a friend to go and nurse you back to health”, Bucky replied and Steve looked at him for a moment in surprise._  
_“Friend?” he asked and Bucky nodded._  
_“Sure, pal. Now come and follow me, Stevie. We have to get you patched up.”_

  
A small smile appeared on Bucky’s lips, thinking about how they had met. His mother had been surprised and devastated by how Steve looked and that Bucky had fought with someone, but Bucky had seen that she was proud of him. And she seemed to like Steve a lot. Bucky had been happy about it because soon he and Steve had become best friends, being together nearly day to night. Bucky soon had learned that Steve was a year younger than him and that his father had died before he was born. Growing up with Steve he had learned about Steve’s various diseases, including his asthma and so many others and watched over Steve and protected him. However, Bucky had still known that Steve wasn’t helpless and hated being treated like he couldn’t do anything on his own and like he was a delicate doll, so Bucky did the stupidest things with him (like that roller coaster ride…) but it only made their friendship grow deeper.  
And at the age of 15 – ten years after they had first met – Bucky realized that he was in love with Steve since he first saw him. Not that he would tell his favorite punk, but he still loved him from the bottom of his heart. And he still did. He still loved Steve like no one else.

 

_››And the simple secret of the plot_  
_Is just to tell them that I love you a lot‹‹_

 

Bucky watched Steve debating with Sam about whether they should get ice cream on their way back home or not. Steve was against it, trying to convince Sam by telling him that it was unhealthy and they had lots of it at home, but Sam didn’t want to listen, telling Steve that it was way too hot to not get some ice cream as well.

  
Bucky watched them fight with a smile, before he grabbed Steve’s hand, turning the man’s attention to him.  
“What’s wrong, Buck?” Steve asked and Bucky smiled at him.  
“C’mon Stevie, let’s get some ice cream”, he said and Steve looked at him for a second in silence, while Sam shouted a “YES!”.  
“Bucky…”, Steve muttered. “You know that ice cream’s unhealthy”, he said and Bucky shrugged.  
“Doesn’t matter. C’mon, Stevie”, Bucky replied and he looked at Steve with this charming look he used to give women back in the 40s and Steve looked at him for a second, before he sighed.  
“Oh, fine. Just know that I hate you both”, he said defeated and Bucky grinned.  
“Oww, Stevie, you’re hurting my feelings. I thought you loved me”, Bucky said and Steve tried to ignore him.  
“Well, you know what? I love you, Stevie. I really do”, he whispered and Steve looked at him, wanting to say something, but he was unable to do so as Bucky had placed his lips on Steve’s, silencing him with a kiss.

  
It was a soft and tender kiss. A kiss like their very first kiss – careful as if they were afraid to break each other. Those soft kisses reminded Bucky of how much Steve mattered to him. How important he was to him.  
Those kisses were so important to Bucky, because they reminded him that he was human, that he was still James Buchanan Barnes, that he was still the Bucky Steve had fallen in love with so long ago.

  
“Oh god. Jesus, do you have to do that in public, you jerks?” Sam shouted and Bucky and Steve broke apart, laughing.  
Bucky looked at Sam.  
“Obviously. Have to remind the world that he’s mine.”  
Steve blushed the slightest bit and Bucky chuckled, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.  
“I love you so much, Stevie. I love you so much.”

 

_››Then the world discovers as my book ends_  
_How to make two lovers of friends‹‹_

 

Bucky had kissed Steve the first time when he was 20 in 1937. They had been on a double date Bucky had set Steve up because he didn’t want to spend time with the girl but with Steve. However, he had to go out with girls from time to time in order to make sure that no one thought he was gay. No, they weren’t allowed to find out that he had set his eyes on Steve.

  
As usual the girl Bucky had set Steve up with had been more interested in him than in Steve and Bucky and Steve had walked the two girl home right after the movie, because Bucky was so not interested in the girl. Saying he had work tomorrow and had to get up early he found his way out of the misery; Steve didn’t even have to say a word.

  
After they had made sure that the girls were at home and in safety, Bucky and Steve had walked back to their apartment.  
When Steve hadn’t found his apartment key (as usual), Bucky had taken out his and stepped closer to Steve, putting the key into the hole and opening the door. Throughout the whole procedure Bucky had been so close to Steve, he could smell Steve’s shampoo and did not only brush against Steve’s arm, but touched it directly while opening the door.  
Steve, who had been trapped between the door and Bucky had looked at him in silence, but Bucky hadn’t said a word, had only opened the door, before he had shoved Steve into the apartment.

  
Bucky hadn’t noticed the blush on Steve’s cheeks until he had turned on the light and had taken off his coat.  
A cute pink had been stained on Steve’s cheeks and he had avoided Bucky’s glance and even brushing against him while hanging up his coat.  
Bucky had been more than surprised and it must have been written all over his face because when Steve had noticed it, he turned away quickly, entering the kitchen.

  
Bucky had hurried after Steve and had encountered him reaching for a glass in the cupboard above him. Before Steve could even register what was going on, Bucky had already trapped him between the counter behind him and himself.  
“B-Buck…”, Steve had whispered and Bucky had looked down at him, noticing the beautiful blush on Steve’s face.  
“What’s wrong?” Bucky had asked, a smirk playing on his lips.  
Steve had scoffed and had tried to push Bucky away from him.  
“What do you want, Buck?” he had asked and Bucky had continued smirking, while looking down at his best friend.  
“C’mon, Stevie. What’s wrong?” Bucky had repeated his question and Steve had looked at him, trying to figure out what Bucky had wanted from him.  
In the end he had sighed and said: “Could you… just leave me alone for a sec, Buck?”

  
Bucky had laughed at Steve’s question and Steve had blushed harder while looking down at the floor.  
“You’re so cute, Stevie”, Bucky had whispered and Steve had looked up, his face colored in deep scarlet, about to reply, but Bucky had cut him off by kissing him.

  
At the beginning Bucky had been careful and a bit afraid, worrying that Steve didn’t feel the way he felt, but when Steve slowly relaxed and leaned into the kiss, Bucky had placed his hands on Steve’s hips, pulling him closer.  
Their kiss had been soft, careful and tender and filled with nervousness, although they both knew that the other loved them.

  
During the kiss Steve had put his arms around Bucky’s neck and when they had parted his arms had remained where they were, although Steve had avoided Bucky’s eyes.

  
“Stevie.”  
Bucky had forced Steve to look at him and when Steve did, he gave him a smile – a smile full of love and trust, not that charming smile he flashed at girls.  
“I love you, Stevie. I do”, Bucky had whispered and for a second Steve had looked at him flabbergasted before he had nodded and had whispered something along the lines of “I love you, too” and Bucky had kissed him again. This time more intense and with more desire, but still soft and full of love.  
And while they had kissed, Bucky had been fully aware of the fact that it was wrong and that they shouldn’t do this, but then again rules were meant to be broken and he was ready to break those rules for Steve again and again as long as it meant staying at his side. And maybe this hadn’t been the best way to make Steve his lover, but at least he had succeeded in turning them from friends to lovers and that was all that mattered.

 

_››If they ask me, I could write a book_  
_About the way you walk and whisper and look_  
_I could write a preface on how we met_  
_So the world would never forget, never, never forget‹‹_

 

Back at the Avenger’s tower, Sam told Nat everything about how Bucky always had to embarrass him by kissing Steve in public.  
Nat only laughed about it and gave Bucky a high-five, while Sam sighed and shook his head about the two of them.

  
“Oh, c’mon, Sam, let those two grandpas. They haven’t been able to touch each other for over 70 years and they weren’t even allowed to show their love back in their time, so just let them”, Nat said and Sam rolled his eyes, while Bucky chuckled.

  
He looked at Steve, who was sketching absentminded on the couch and Bucky could not stop himself from thinking how damn luck he was to have this guy. To be this guy’s boyfriend. He had loved Steve for so many years and he was so going to marry this guy now that he could. And he would. He definitely would. He would never let them be parted again without Steve knowing that he would be his forever and always and even on the other side.

  
Steve had been Bucky’s air since he had figured out that he loved him and Bucky was certain that he could not live without Steve anymore.  
Because how could you breathe without air?

  
And maybe one day Bucky could talk the owner of this museum to stop portraying them as “friends” but as the lovers they were. The world should know about them, about how they met and about how they came together and how fucking much they loved each other. The world should know that they needed each other like they needed air and although that sounded fucking sappy it was the truth.

 

_››And the simple secret of the plot_  
_Is just to tell them that I love you a lot_  
_Then the world discovers as my book ends_  
_How to make two lovers of friends.‹‹_

 

For a second Bucky just starred at Steve, starred at the love of his life, before he reached into the pocket of his trousers.  
For a long time now Bucky had thought about when the right moment was, but then he had come to the conclusion that there would never be the right moment. Just like with their first kiss, there wasn’t a right moment. It was just a moment you turned into the right and perfect moment. You made the moment right not the moment itself.

  
Taking a deep breath, Bucky strode over to Steve. If there wasn’t a right moment, so why not now? He waited 70 long years for this so he might just do it.

  
Bucky stopped in front of Steve and immediately Steve looked up, looked up at him with those beautiful baby blue eyes and Bucky swallowed.  
“What’s up, Buck?” Steve asked and Bucky took a deep breath, before getting the small box out of his pocket.  
“Buck?” Steve asked, slightly worried, but Bucky didn’t say a word; instead just got down on one knee.

  
Nat gasped in the kitchen and Sam muttered something along the lines of “About damn time”, but Bucky ignored them. This was just between Steve and him.  
He looked up at Steve and saw the blank expression of Steve, every emotion whipped from it.

  
He swallowed. Steve loved him. He wouldn’t say no.

  
“Steven Grant Rogers”, Bucky started and he smiled at Steve.  
“Since I first saved your sorry ass in that alley back in 1921 I couldn’t get you off my mind and when I realized I loved you in 1932 I swear I wanted to punch a goddamn fucking wall because that just wasn’t right and just couldn’t be, because I just couldn’t be in love with the most stupid and smallest troublemaker in Brooklyn, who also happened to be my best friend.”

  
Bucky smiled at Steve, who chuckled about his last sentence because he knew that Bucky was right about that part.

  
“God knows how I managed to make you fall for me, but believe me when I say that I still remember perfectly well our first kiss in 1937 and how you blushed just as deep as you are blushing now”, Bucky said and it was true. Steve’s face had the exact same color it had been on that night in 1937.

  
“Being separated from you was hell and I swear I waited over 70 goddamn fucking years to finally ask you this, so don’t let me down on this.”  
Bucky looked at Steve in a mocking glare and Steve chuckled slightly, the blush on his face omnipresent.

  
“So, Steven Grant Rogers, I want to spend the next 70 years with you and I hope so do you. I want to wake up seeing your face every morning and knowing that you are mine and mine only and I want the whole world to know how much I love you. So…  
Will you marry me?”

  
Bucky held out the ring in the small box to Steve, waiting for a reaction from him. Many seconds nothing happened, Steve just staring at him and the ring, before he nodded. A bright smile appeared on Bucky’s face and Steve smiled widely, nodding over and over again, before whispering a “yes” and kissing Bucky, arms around his neck.

  
In the far distance Bucky could hear Nat saying “Awwwww” and Sam making puking noises, like the idiot he was, but Bucky barely registered them. All he knew and cared about was Steve. Steve, who was kissing him. Steve, who was going to be his husband. Steve, who was going to marry him. Steve, who was the most adorable and lovely person on this whole wide world and who he waited to ask for over 70 years.

  
When they parted, Steve looked at him, his eyes filled with tears of happiness.  
“Yes, Buck. Yes. I will marry you. Oh my god, I love you so much”, he whispered and Bucky chuckled softly, before he kissed Steve again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Not-beta read.  
> Mistakes belong to me.  
> I also hate writing in that "had kissed" - form, but whatever. What has to be done, has to be done. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. xoxo


End file.
